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Focus On… Vetting & Barring Scheme Changes 2012

Posted onAugust 7, 2012byEmma Roberts

As an employer, voluntary organisation or charity, you may wish to engage people to work with vulnerable groups including children; this may require the organisation to obtain a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check.

If you are such an employer, it is essential that you are aware of the forthcoming changes that come into force on the 10th September 2012 and how this will effect your recruitment processes.

Q. Why the change?

A. After the 2010 election, the coalition government agreed to commit to review and reform the vetting and barring scheme and criminal records process regime, in terms of addressing concerns raised due to the complexity of the procedure and process.

The aim of the review was to ensure a service that helped safeguard vulnerable groups, including children, from those people who pose a risk of harm, who work or volunteer with them, whilst reducing the burden on employers.

Q. Who do these changes effect?

A. Employers, voluntary organisations and charities that engage people to work with vulnerable groups including children. This is work which a barred person must not do, in other words “regulated activity”, or work for which the organisation may need to obtain a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check.

the minimum age at which an individual can apply for a CRB check is 16 years of age

the services of the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) will be merged to become the Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) operational from December 2012

However not everything is changing; for example you will still have a duty to make referrals to the Independent Safeguarding Authority, and you must not knowingly engage a barred person in regulated activity.

Q. Where can I find more information?

A. The Home Office have produced a helpful leaflet on the changes to disclosure and barring and what you need to know, that can be downloaded from the Home Office website by clicking here.